Genshin Impact: The Road to Reversal

Chapter 573: Wave?

"Hehehe, that's more like it. After all, you don't want more souls to fall under our blades, right?" the samurai sneered.

“Miss Clover…” Zi Xuan said worriedly, but before she could finish speaking, Clover raised her hand to stop her.

She took a deep breath and tried to keep her voice calm: "Let these children go, and I can guarantee your safe departure."

"Leave? No, no, no, I... have a new idea now." The samurai sneered, then drew his katana from his waist, pointed it at Claire, and said, "Little girl, do you dare to fight me here?"

"what?"

Harklow and the others were all taken aback, even the samurai holding the children looked bewildered.

"Are you serious?" Clementine tilted her head.

In terms of strength, her opponent was far inferior to her, but with the children being held hostage, she had to proceed with caution. The opponent's challenge of a one-on-one duel might be an opportunity, but it could also be a trap.

“If you win, the children can go, and I will do with them as I please. If you lose…” The samurai paused deliberately, “Hmph, you and these children will all stay and become nourishment for my ‘Black Death’.”

“Alright, let’s begin,” Clementine said, twirling her scythe.

"Wait, I'm not finished yet," the samurai continued. "I know your strength, so to be fair, you can only use your own weapon in this duel, and you cannot use any force. Similarly, if your men dare to make any rash moves, I don't want to, and I can't guarantee, that they will be able to keep their hands steady."

"You can't use your strength, which means you want to fight me in close combat?" Clementine asked.

"You could say that."

The samurai nodded, but Hakuro, standing to the side, was displeased.

"Hey, wait a minute! Are you kidding me? Are you out of your mind? Such a good opportunity, why aren't you taking the chance to slip away, instead of going one-on-one with him?" Harklow was both angry and anxious.

The samurai sneered, "Of course, but don't forget that we're in control now, so whatever I say, they have to do it."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Clementine again.

"Besides, the 'Death of Black' experiment has been stalled. Now that we have a paladin to use as nourishment, why not take advantage of it?"

"Why don't you just let her inject the virus herself?"

"That's so boring. What I enjoy is the thrill of crushing the strong under my feet, the frustration and resentment they feel when they have power but can't use it because of constraints! Just like our grand plan, which has been in the works for so long, it has been thwarted time and time again because of these troublesome guys! Today, I will let her taste that feeling! Then, with her powerful body, I will complete the final link in our long-cherished wish!"

The samurai's tone grew increasingly agitated and distorted, his eyes flashing with a morbid excitement.

Harklow was so angry he couldn't speak, he could only glare at him fiercely.

Claire calmly nodded: "Okay, I accept your conditions. But you must make sure these children are at a safe distance so that our fight doesn't harm innocent people."

“Okay, no problem.” The samurai waved his hand, and the samurai holding the children obeyed and drove them to a corner of the laboratory. The swords were still at their necks, but they were now a little further away from the center.

Clementine turned to look at Zixuan, as if giving her instructions. Then, she slowly walked forward.

She planted the scythe in the ground, and the flames on her body quickly subsided. After taking a deep breath, she gripped only the long handle of the scythe and assumed a basic starting stance.

Seeing this, the samurai slowly drew his katana from his waist with satisfaction.

"Very good...that's it. Come on, let me see how much skill a paladin who has lost his power still has!"

Before he finished speaking, he sprang into action, his katana whistling through the air as it drew a sharp arc, aiming straight for Claire's face! The speed was incredible.

clang!

Clementine's eyes narrowed, her steps faltered slightly, and she twisted the heavy scythe in her hand, using the handle to block.

A deafening clang of metal clashing echoed through the laboratory. The samurai's strike was powerful and heavy, clearly far beyond the capabilities of an ordinary thug.

But Clementine was no less formidable; even without the power boost, she still relied on her past combat experience to respond flexibly.

Facing the samurai's slashes, she used the scythe to sometimes parry and sometimes sweep, wielding it with effortless ease.

The samurai's attacks grew increasingly ferocious, his blade flashing like a net, each strike ruthless and cunning, clearly demonstrating his mastery of combat. Clementine, on the other hand, was like a rock in a storm, seemingly passive, yet always managing to deflect or neutralize attacks with minimal movement. Her scythe, swung with a powerful whistling sound, nearly struck the samurai several times.

"Oh? I didn't expect you to be this good at physical combat alone. Looks like I underestimated you!" A hint of surprise flashed in the samurai's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by even stronger excitement. "This is more interesting!"

He changed his swordplay, no longer aiming to defeat his enemy in one strike, but instead using a continuous barrage of fast attacks to entangle Clementine while adjusting his footwork.

Looking at the battle before her, Zi Xuan fell into deep thought.

"If anything goes wrong, I'm leaving everything to you."

That's what she just told herself.

She glanced instinctively at the opposite side. Although the samurai were observing the battle, many were still silently watching them. She also understood that even if Clementine won, the other side wouldn't release her as promised.

"If we want to save the child, we have to catch them off guard, but..."

Thinking of this, she had an idea.

She quietly took half a step back, poured a bottle of liquid onto the ground with the back of her hand, and then gently tapped it with her staff, which turned into a very faint, almost transparent green.

This is a special hallucinogenic gas. As long as "you" don't move, the other party will never realize that what's standing there is an empty shell.

After shedding her shell, Zi Xuan donned an invisibility cloak, and her figure, like a mist blending into the shadows, silently slid along the laboratory wall towards a corner.

The liquid that fell to the ground evaporated extremely slowly. The colorless and odorless mist clung to "itself" in place. It was a phantom formed by the replacement gas, which was now maintaining its frowning and watching-the-battle expression, with even the arc of its flowing hair perfectly synchronized.

what!

With a swing of her arm, Clementine's scythe created a powerful gust of wind, forcing the samurai to take a half-step back.

"Heh, not bad. I really underestimated you," the samurai said, panting.

"What, you still won't admit defeat?" Claire asked, her brows furrowed.

Upon hearing this, the samurai let out a low laugh: "Admit defeat? Hahahaha, it seems you still haven't figured it out."

He waved to the back, and then one of the ronin led the child over, the blade still pressed against the child's neck.

"Have you forgotten that the decision-making power is always in my hands? Put down your weapon, or this kid will be dead!"

"You... shameless!" Claire swung her scythe, her anger, which she had barely managed to suppress, rising again.

“Shameless? That’s called strategy.” The samurai raised his sword again. “From now on, you will fight bare-handed. If I find out you’ve used any other abilities, hmph…”